Broken - Isadora Quagmire

Chapter Thirteen - Forever

"Good morning cake-sniffers. I'm going on a trip today and you twins have to stay in school. Ha ha ha ha". Is the overall gist of the song that Carmelita sang when she woke us up the next morning.

Duncan took advantage of this moment and fell back to sleep, and we both agreed that we shouldn't wake the Baudelaires up as they had been running laps for 4 nights. I was brushing my hair when I heard a knock on the door of the broom closet.

I answered it. "Klaus?" I said.

"Morning" he said.

"What are you doing up?" I asked stepping out of the broom closet and shutting the door behind me.

"I just couldn't sleep and I was wondering if you, erm, I don't know... do you... maybe.. walk?"

"I'd love to go on a walk with you but are you sure? You need to get as much sleep as you can and today you get the chance to sleep as much as you want really. We don't know what Count Olaf is planning but we need to be ready"

"I know but I really do want to go on a walk today, with you. Please?"

"Okay" I said, walking back into the broom closet then writing Duncan a note. I left it on top of his commonplace book and left with Klaus.

We walked along a corridor of the school, talking about a masquerade ball that Klaus' parents went to before he or his sisters were born. I told him about a ball that my parents went to before me and my brothers were born, a masquerade ball. Needless to say, we were both confused.

"I just don't understand why they would keep all of this from us"

"From what's happened we know that Count Olaf is extremely dangerous. If any of us ended up in his clutches, we could die. They were probably just trying to protect us"

"Klaus, none of us are going to die. Count Olaf isn't even going to take anyone, because we're going to stop him before he even tries"

He looked at me. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Just listen"

We both stood still. A horrible squeaking/scraping sound echoed  through the silent halls getting closer and closer.

"What is that?" I asked, covering my ears.

"I don't know. But whatever it is, it can't be good..." Klaus said.

He grabbed my hand and we ran. Through hallways, the cafeteria, classrooms, more hallways and all the way up to the top of the school, the bell tower. Dusty bottles lay across the dusty wooden floor of the dusty bell tower. Nobody had been there in years. We both explored the bell tower.

"When do you think someone was here last?"

"I don't know. A long time ago"

"I'm in disgust from all this dust" I said "it's not the best couplet but it'll do for now"

"All your couplets are the best. They always will be...forever"

"You really think so?"

"Of course, like I said your couplets will be, no, are the best. They'll be remembered forever!"

"You're not making any sense, Blaus Kaudelaire" I laughed.

We searched the tiny tower as time passed. There was a carving on the wall; a heart with the letters 'OK' in the middle. Open textbooks were laying on the floor in the corner of the room. Klaus and I read some of them, they were quite boring, and then we carved something on the wall. Eventually, we decided to leave the bell tower.

Klaus and I found Duncan, Sunny and Violet in the Orphan Shack. My brother almost immediately stood up.

"Where have you been?" he asked.

"We were in the bell tower" I said "I left you a note saying that I was going on a walk with Klaus"

"We thought it was a note like the one Aunt Josephine wrote" said Violet.

"Plus, we almost had a run in with Count Olaf" said my brother.

"Are you all okay" said Klaus.

"We're fine. When Duncan found Isadora's note he immediately came here and we all went looking"

"But when we were, we heard this horrible, screeching, scraping sound"

"So did we. That why we ran up to the bell tower"

"It was the hook-handed man sharpening his hooks. We followed him to the field where he met up with Count Olaf and all the other henchmen. They were looking for us"

"All of us" my brother said "we hid back in the random closet for two hours then came here. We've been waiting for almost two and a half hours"

"Look, we apologise but..."

"You don't have to be sorry, Klaus. Just stay safe" said Violet.

"We are. You all have to see the bell tower though" said Klaus.

Violet picked up her sister and we left the Orphan Shack. Klaus and I told them about the bell tower: the dusty everything, the books, the carving... Though we didn't tell them about our carving. We entered the school and passed the locked up library when we heard a sound, engines. We all ran to the front of the school. They were back.

Carmelita led the parade of students as they exited the buses and returned Prufrock Prep once more.

"What are you staring at? Cake-sniffers!" she stormed towards us before making a sharp left, towards her dorm.

"I am so glad they're back" I said.

"Yea, me too" my brother said in a sarcastic tone.

"No. I mean it. Something bad could have happened today but now it's... less likely"

Later that day, me and Klaus snuck back up to the bell tower to find a lock on the door.